Colorado Water
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is busy flooding the Grand Canyon this weekend, in an attempt at rebuilding habitat, according to the Rocky Mountain News [November 20, 2004, "On Powell, surge of water, emotion"]. It'll drop the lake about 3 feet which will be made up with next spring's runoff, should there be one.
Here's an opinion piece about Colorado's water troubles from former DU law professor, James L. Kurtz-Phelan, from today's Denver Post [November 21, 2004, "Cities, farms can share"]. From the article, "The best hope lies in an array of water-saving agricultural technologies, some of which have already been tried on a smaller scale. For example, cantaloupe and vegetable farmers in the Arkansas River Valley east of Pueblo, with the help of subsidies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, have installed drip irrigation systems that use 60 percent less water than traditional flood irrigation. By installing underground soaker hoses and covering soil in black plastic sheeting to keep moisture in and raise soil temperature, they reduced the time needed to irrigate a 48-acre plot of cantaloupe and four acres of tomatoes from two weeks to 19 hours. This system is remarkably similar to one long used by Israelis to grow bountiful supplies of fruits, vegetables, and flowers in the Negev desert."
The Denver Post editorial staff is urging action from water users in light of last week's report from the Colorado Water Conservation Board [November 21, 2004, "Follow up state water report with real action"].
4:30:42 PM 
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